Mass graves are being uncovered across Syria, shedding light on the scale of atrocities committed under the brutal regime of ousted dictator Bashar al-Assad.

More than two weeks after Assad’s regime collapsed and he fled the country, countless Syrian families remain in the dark about the fate of their missing loved ones, many of whom were detained by Assad’s notorious secret police.

The Scale of the Atrocity

According to Mouaz Moustafa, executive director of the US-based advocacy group Syrian Emergency Task Force (SETF), hundreds of thousands of bodies may be buried in mass graves east of Damascus.

Speaking to CNN, Moustafa said he was finally able to visit suspected burial sites after years of work.

One such site lies in Qutayfah, about 45 kilometers (28 miles) northeast of Damascus. The area is marked by massive trenches:

• Depth: 6-7 meters (19-23 feet)
• Width: 3-4 meters
• Length: 50-150 meters

Gravediggers who worked at the site revealed horrific details. Between 2012 and 2018, four tractor-trailers, each carrying over 150 bodies, allegedly arrived twice a week. This chilling pattern amounts to hundreds of thousands of victims.

Moustafa recounted how workers were forced by intelligence officers to flatten and compress the bodies using bulldozers to make room for new arrivals.

New Discoveries in Southern Syria

On Monday, reports emerged of a new mass grave north of Izraa in Daraa governorate, southern Syria. Videos published by Agence France-Presse show men digging through the soil, pulling up bones, and unearthing rows of bodies.

Another clip shows a bulldozer carefully uncovering layers of earth while two rows of covered bodies lie on the ground.

The Missing: A National Tragedy

An estimated 150,000 Syrians are still unaccounted for, according to the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP). Many were detained, kidnapped, or killed by Assad’s regime or affiliated groups. CNN, however, could not independently verify this figure.

The ICMP highlighted previous accounts, including that of a man dubbed “The Gravedigger,” who testified in a German court in 2020. He described how Assad’s regime forced him to bury hundreds of bodies in mass graves.

• Mass Grave Sites: Bodies transported from detention centers were buried in areas like Qutayfah (north of Damascus) and al-Najha (south of Damascus).
• Harrowing Details: Each truck reportedly carried 300-700 corpses. Victims were marked with numbers on their foreheads or chests, exhibiting clear signs of torture and mutilation.

Calls for Justice and Accountability

Moustafa emphasized that there are at least eight known mass grave sites in Syria and urged international experts to assist with exhumations and identifying the bodies.

Jenifer Fenton, spokesperson for the UN special envoy to Syria, stressed the importance of preserving documentation for detention centers and mass graves.

“We must prioritize accounting for the missing and ensuring families receive the clarity and recognition they desperately need,” Fenton said during a recent press briefing.

A Family’s Loss: Voices from Survivors

For families like Hazem Dakel from Idlib, now living in Sweden, the discovery of mass graves reopens old wounds.

Hazem shared his family’s tragedy:

• His uncle, Najeeb, was arrested in 2012 and later confirmed dead.
• His brother, Amer, was detained the following year and disappeared in Saydnaya Prison, notorious for torture and executions.
• Former detainees reported seeing Amer in April 2015, after which he vanished. Though the regime never acknowledged his death, the family is now certain he was tortured to death.

Reflecting on Assad’s fall, Hazem expressed a mix of relief and grief:
“Yes, the regime fell after resistance and struggle, but there was sorrow – like, where are our children? They are mourning their loved ones.”

The Road Ahead

While Syrians celebrate the fall of Assad’s oppressive rule, the staggering discovery of mass graves underscores the enormous task ahead:

• Identifying victims
• Delivering justice
• Providing closure for families

The world is now watching as Syria grapples with its past, seeking answers and accountability for the thousands who vanished during one of the darkest chapters in its history.

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As Syrians celebrated the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime this week, many faced an agonizing quest: locating loved ones who disappeared under his decades-long dictatorship. The notorious Saydnaya prison, infamous for its brutal history of detention, torture, and executions, became the focal point of this search.

A Symbol of Oppression and Horror

Saydnaya, located north of Damascus, has long been a grim symbol of the Assad regime’s brutality. Dubbed “the slaughterhouse,” Amnesty International estimates that as many as 13,000 people were hanged there between 2011 and 2015. The prison, shrouded in secrecy, was a place where opponents of the regime vanished, their fates unknown.

When rebels toppled Assad on Sunday, his flight to Russia signaled the end of an era of oppression. Images of prisoners being released from Saydnaya flooded social media, fueling hope for thousands of families desperate for answers. Traffic stretched for miles as crowds swarmed toward the prison, some abandoning their vehicles to walk the final stretch under the scorching sun.

Desperate Searches Amid Uncertainty

Among those searching was Maysoon Labut from Dara’a, the birthplace of the Syrian uprising. Labut sought three brothers and her son-in-law, holding onto the faint hope that they might still be alive. Fighting back tears, she shared her fears: “There’s no oxygen in the red section of the prison because the ventilation failed. They might all die.”

Rumors about hidden underground cells, known as the “red section,” spread rapidly, pushing families to dig deeper, both figuratively and literally. Syrian Civil Defense, also known as the White Helmets, led efforts to uncover these alleged secret cells. Volunteers drilled and searched, aided by sniffer dogs and silence from the crowd, hoping to hear the voices of trapped detainees.

However, by Monday evening, hopes were dashed. The White Helmets reported finding no evidence of undiscovered cells. The Association of Detainees and the Missing in Saydnaya Prison (ADMSP) confirmed that all prisoners had been released by Sunday, dismissing claims of hidden detainees as “unfounded.”

The Agony of Not Knowing

Despite these assurances, many families remain in limbo. Inside the prison, relatives combed through abandoned documents, illuminated only by cellphone flashlights, searching for any trace of their loved ones. A woman holding a faded photograph of her brother, missing for 12 years, expressed the heartbreak of uncertainty. “We just want to know if he’s dead or alive,” she said. “He has children who have never met him.”

The release of some prisoners has brought bittersweet reunions. Suheil Hamawi, a 61-year-old detainee held in various Syrian prisons for over three decades, returned home to his village in Lebanon. While overjoyed to reunite with his family, he reflected on the profound loss of time. “I realized how much I missed when my granddaughter called me ‘Grandpa.’ It’s a beautiful feeling, but it reminds me of everything I lost.”

A New Chapter, Yet Lingering Pain

As Syria turns a page in its history, the scars of the Assad regime’s atrocities remain fresh. Saydnaya prison stands as a haunting reminder of decades of suffering. For the families of the missing, the fight for truth and closure continues, even as the nation begins to rebuild from the ruins of tyranny.

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